Anna's son
by YugureMaho
Summary: A young girl named Anna is headed to London, where her supposedly 'monstrous' baby is born at the cost of her life.Her last request was a name; "Allen." Allen childhood fic. DGM belongs to Katsura Hoshino.
1. Chapter 1

The future mother of an unborn baby began to sob in earnest at the news her physician had given her just hours ago.

"_I'm sorry, miss, but there's nothing we can do. It might die, it might not. It would be best if you traveled as quickly as possible to the London hospital, just in case. This kind of thing is unnatural. I wish you luck."_

Tears still streamed down her face as she made her forlorn way down the narrow steps of the building she had lived in since finding herself with child, using the railing for support.

When she reached the landlord's study, she knocked carefully. He opened the door moments later with a solemn look on his face.

"Sir, would you please arrange a carriage to London? I-I can pay," she added quickly, hoping not to offend the man who, out of the kindness of his heart, had taken her in when her own family had disowned her for having an illegimate child.

A soft smile overtook the young yet severe features of his face.

"Of course I will. There is no need for you to pay, Anna, as I suspect you wish to go for the sake of your child."

He truly was such a kind man, to take her in and pay for a physician. Anna resisted the urge to bow deeply, knowing he would reprimand her for treating him with unneeded respect.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you for all of your kindness and hospitality."

He ruffled her hair affectionately before returning to his desk, beside which a phone hung on the wall. Anna watched as he ordered for a carriage to come for her the next day.

Dragging herself back up the stairs to begin to pack her meager things, she carefully dried the tears that still hung on her eyelashes and coated her cheeks.

She severely wished that the kind man whose house she inhabited had been the father, rather than that repulsive –

Quickly, Anna diverted her thoughts to more positive things. That she still had a place to call home, even after losing nearly everything; the fact that, despite being disowned, she had retained some of her favorite belongings; even that she might have a young baby to take care of to keep her thoughts distracted in only a few weeks.

Smiling slightly at the thoughts, she entered her own room and began gathering the few belongings scattered in the small space.

--

The next day, the landlord helped Anna carry her small suitcase down the narrow stairs, smiling as usual. When she had first seen him that morning, he had been sitting at his upright grand piano again, plucking out a melody she somehow knew no other person would ever hear. Anna had sat and listened contentedly, but was slightly alarmed when he stopped playing, because something seemed to have changed in his bearing.

When he offered to help her to the carriage, though, the feeling of change was quickly replaced with happiness.

**All right, there's the first chapter of my character development experiment. I expect this will go at least up through when Mana dies to Cross's appearance – but I can't be sure. I might take it all the way to where the manga starts, even. If I don't get really bad writer's block, it should be quite long. You should know – there isn't really going to be plot, just my idea of what Allen's childhood/early teens might have been like, the circumstances of his birth, etc. It isn't really so much a story as a third-person record that is COMPLETELY NOT OWNED BY ME. D. Gray-Man is owned by Katsura Hoshino, may she get well soon.**

**Review if you wish.**

**Maho**


	2. Chapter 2

The sturdy carriage jumped slightly as a wheel hit one of the many rocks that lay strewn across the dirt road. Paved streets were long behind Anna and her child as they traveled on their way to London. It might have been a two-day trip, but no mater how she urged, the coachman simply refused to stop and endanger her child.

The child that often kicked and flayed about within her, as if impatient to begin its stay on Earth.

The girl whose very existence brought both joy and broken grief whenever she thought about her.

For surely, she would be a girl. No boy could throw such a tantrum nearly unprovoked, nor be so small as her child. Anna had even chosen a name for her: Helen. Helen would be a beautiful girl, she could tell, a beautiful girl unaffected by the torments this world would toss at her.

Anna felt a tear sliding down her cheek, wondering why she couldn't have been like that, why the wrath of the world hadn't left _her_ unaffected.

Another rock made the carriage jump and rattle. Anna clutched at the seat to prevent from bouncing too hard into the air, but she still fell back uncomfortably onto the seat after everything had settled back again.

Standing carefully, she walked to the draped window behind the driver.

"Kind sir, please allow yourself rest! I shall be fine if delayed only but a few hours."

He shook his head, saying, "London is only a few hours off, Milady. I shall be fine until then."

--

**East London Hospital, eleven days later**

--

Anna drew a labored breath, looking with bleary eyes at the newly born baby boy the doctor had placed in her arms. Just the slightest hint of soft brown hair adorned his head, and he had eyes that promised to be large and round when opened.

Sucking in another slightly pained breath, Anna finally noticed the boy's left arm. Her eyes widened at the sight of the wrinkled, red, and stiff arm.

Then those same eyes drooped with both sadness and fatigue a few moments later, her mind slowly processing the child's deformity. His left arm stayed stiff and straight even though the baby himself stretched and pulled slightly at the gray cloth wound around him as he attempted to stretch.

Shifting to see her son better, Anna bit back a whimper at the pain that shot through her lower abdomen and between her hips. Something felt slightly… not right. It shouldn't hurt that much afterward, should it?

Anna gritted her teeth slightly and turned her attention back to the boy in her arms. Now that she held him, Anna wondered how she could have ever thought of him as a girl.

But what of the name she had chosen? A boy could not very well be named Helen; it would be unseemly. And yet, it was such a beautiful name. Anna's eyelids drooped so that her eyes seemed closed completely, though they were not.

"A-Allen. His name is Allen," she said quietly, smiling slightly. The name sounded noble to her, in some way.

The doctor gently lifted Allen from Anna's arms.

"You need your rest now, Miss Anna. I will watch him for a few hours, while you sleep."

Anna nodded nearly imperceptibly her agreement, and then slid carefully down the headboard to rest her head against the pillow. Sleep would be a welcome thing, free of worry for the time being.

--

**Several hours later**

--

"Miss Anna, are you alright?"

The doctor touched his hand to her shoulder, hoping to wake her.

Sweat beaded Anna's brow, and small gasps of pain escaped her when she moved to suddenly.

Her blanket barely covered her hips, and the thin shirt she wore had ridden up slightly. The doctor noticed bruising on the exposed skin, stretching upwards to be hidden by her shirt and downwards, hidden by the blanket. Anna's breathing came in ragged gasps, and even as the doctor watched every inch of skin on her stomach darkened a shade with bruises.

Seeing how bad the internal bleeding had quickly become, the doctor rushed to assess the damage.

Pushing the thin shirt up farther to see how far up the bruising had gone; he felt the tender skin's fevered heat before his fingers reached it. Anna whimpered as the gentle touch enflamed her nerves. The action sent droplets of blood flying onto the pillow.

"Miss Anna!"

The next shallow, labored breath hitched and stopped before it had barely begun.

*-(o)-l-'\

**The line-thingy isn't working, so I tried to make Allen's eye-curse with type-able characters… that didn't work. The slash wasn't deep enough.**

**Anyway, Thanks for reading this chapter. I want your opinions on whether I should up the rating, because there's this chapter, and (from what I've gathered, anyway,) before Mana adopts Allen, he tends to swear a lot… so please tell me. I don't want to leave it at T if it should be M.**

**I know a few of you will be confused on how the bruising thing worked, and maybe tell me she wouldn't have died that way… so let me explain before you say anything.**

**(Skip the rest of this if you don't want the – most likely flawed – explanation.)**

**As previously mentioned in the chapter, Allen tended to kick and flail before he was born. If he kicked hard enough and often enough, he could do quite a bit of damage to internal tissue. So the bruising actually started before he was born.**

**When Allen was born, a lot of the bleeding had already stopped, and clots had formed to prevent more. The added pressure, though, caused increased friction on the scabs (I can't imagine how painful scabs like that must be) and most likely would have started bleeding again. As bleeding increased, so did pressure. More veins and arteries were damaged, extending the bruises up and down her torso. Basically, Anna bled to death. The bruises progressed faster than realistic, though… Something like that should take at least a few days. If there's any way I can improve this chapter, please tell me. I'm not satisfied with how it came out. How people die is not my specialty.**


	3. Chapter 3

The doctor didn't know what to do. Miss Anna was dead, leaving her mutated child behind. If the child were not fed soon, he would die. And yet, there seemed to be no nursing mothers that might be willing to help the boy. They all took one look at the stiff, wrinkled and bloodred arm inlaid with the strange, unnatural cross and declared him to be ugly, a demon who deserved to die.

Perhaps an orphanage would be best. The small orphan house nearby would accept nearly any child in need and always had milk for the babies to drink, even if it were skimmed goat's milk.

Deciding that it was orphanage or death, the doctor rushed to find something warm to wrap the boy Miss Anna had named Allen in for the short but cold trip to the orphanage.

Telling the young secretary that he would only be out for a short while, the doctor left the hospital.

--

**Five minutes later: The Orphanage**

**--**

"We're packed, I'm afraid to say," the kindly old woman who ran the orphan house said, "But we may be able to take him for a short time. In winter, so many mothers die of the flu or a cold that we simply run out of milk faster than we can get it."

The doctor smiled gratefully as she took Allen in her arms gently but with an air of professionalism that only emanates from someone who has done something a few too many times.

"Thank you, Melody. I am sorry that I bring so many orphaned children to you during this time of year, truly sorry," he said, tipping his hat as he made to go down the steps.

"And yet just as many children are sent to the morgue, with or without their parents. Does he not have a father, or perhaps an uncle and aunt?" she asked. The doctor shook his head back and forth.

"The man who was caring for the boy's mother during her pregnancy is dead three mornings ago, killed in another of those noble's fights that have been happening often lately. His brother travels England as an entertainer, and has never met Miss Anna. She told me over and over again, during her nine days' stay at the hospital, that she wished that very same man who had been caring for her was the father, rather than 'that bastard', as she called him. We never got a name, so yes; he is left without parents, grandparents, or even an aunt or uncle. Miss Anna was disowned from her family for having an illegimate child, you see, and discarded her family name thus."

Melody looked sadly at the snowy clouds overhead for a moment, contemplating the information.

"Please, Melody, do not tell him she is dead. Tell him that she left him here for reasons entirely her own when he starts asking."

The elderly woman nodded and turned to reenter the warm interior of the orphanage. The doctor continued down the steps to return to the hospital, where he very well may find another mother or child dead, leaving the other behind to mourn for their loss or struggle to survive.

**--**

**The inside of the orphanage**

**--**

Melody hurried about, trying to keep up with the little children and not-so-little adolescents while at the same time caring for each of the younger babies. Allen was among this younger group, but he didn't seem to be crying or just plain screaming at his hunger. He just seemed to toss and turn a bit in sleep, and then wake to stare around at the other infants.

This worried Melody, who watched him carefully as she tried to tend to the others. She had fed him straight away after taking him inside, and that had resulted in a very quiet yet slightly upset aura around the boy. She assumed that he was in some way aware of what had happened to his mother, as many babies were thus slightly aware.

"Another baby? This one's uglier than the rest."

"Just look at his eyes, they're mud brown and too round. And his arm! Who has ever seen such a disgusting deformity?"

"I bet he killed his mum with it, that's why he's here."

Melody huffily turned around and glared at the small group of older children who had gathered around Allen. They took one look at her furious eyes and fled.

Allen simply cocked his head to one side and gurgled something nobody but he could understand.

**--**

**(Just in case the line thing still isn't working, I added an extra one.)**

**Here's chapter 3. I'm sorry that my chapters are short with this story, but I update faster when they're short. If I tried to make these longer I'd probably never update.**

**Anyway, I'd love to hear your feedback on this chapter. Until next time!**


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